Florida Wholesale Deal Without Escrow

[Kimberly Anderson]

Hi BP,

I'm a brand new wholesaler with just two months in this game (extreme newbie) and I'm trying to wrap my head around something. I found what appears to be a promising deal with a landlord who wants to sell her home for $50k in a prime location in Tampa, FL. She has relocated out of the country with her family, so it appears she might be the motivated seller I've been looking for. My intention is to get this deal via assignment, with a $50 earnest money deposit to her (which I hadn't yet worked out as to how I could give her the EMD since she is out of the country...but I was thinking PayPal ). At any rate, we've been communicating over e-mail for a few days and I tried to get the ball rolling by finally asking her "If I were to take this house as is and close in 45 days, what is the absolute lowest you would be willing to sell it for?"

Her response: "First, I should let you know that I do not want to go through escrow".

Now, I'm a little puzzled. Aren't escrows required by law? I cannot seem to get a definitive answer as it relates to Florida. Secondly, if she's not even interested in escrow, how can I even work this deal where she would even be willing to wait at least 30 days for me to find my end buyer? I'm just trying to find a safe way to keep this opportunity alive.

Thanks in advance for your input and sharing with me your experience.

[Michael Olesky]

@Kimberly Anderson

Without making any assumptions as to the sellers intentions, the situation as I see it is she wants to sell the house for 50K cash just before leaving the country and she doesn't want the transaction to be handled by a third impartial party (the title company).

Being new myself, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't do anything without escrow just for the reason that a title company will alert you to any pitfalls. If everything is legit, she shouldn't have an issue with it.

You need to find out what her objection is to using escrow, if it has to do with closing costs, write your contract to say you will pay all closing costs which you will pass on to your buyer.

Quick way to end your wholesaling career before it starts would be to pass a major issue on to your buyer.

Keep us posted on how it goes!

Mike